Latest news with #Ouattara
TimesLIVE
16 hours ago
- Business
- TimesLIVE
Ivory Coast President Ouattara, 83, in pole position for fourth term
Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara's decision to seek re-election in October means the world's top cocoa-producing nation will again have to wait on his promise to pass the baton to a new generation of political leaders. But the 83-year-old former international banker is hoping a strong economy and a weak field of challengers will propel him to a fourth term, extending a period of relative stability after the civil war that brought him to power in 2011. Ouattara made his announcement on Tuesday, saying his health was not an issue. With the country's most high-profile opposition politicians ruled ineligible, he is the clear front-runner. A US-trained economist whose resume includes stints as governor of the West African central bank (BCEAO) and deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ouattara has long pitched himself as a savvy technocrat capable of delivering steady growth. The numbers back him up, with the IMF projecting GDP to increase to 6.3% this year, in line with the average over the past decade.
Glasgow Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Glasgow Times
Ivory Coast president announces bid for fourth term after changing constitution
His candidacy is contested after he changed the constitution to remove the presidential term limit. The 83-year-old president declared his plan in a televised announcement. He won a third term in 2020 after he initially said he was not going to run again. However, he changed his position following the death of his hand-picked successor, Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly. 'For several months, I have received numerous calls from fellow citizens regarding my potential candidacy in the presidential election,' the president said. Referring to the country by its name in French, he went on: 'Women and young people from all regions of Cote d'Ivoire, and countless anonymous voices from our neighbourhoods, towns and villages have reached out. 'In response to those appeals, I announced on June 22 that, as president of all Ivorians, I would, after careful reflection, make a decision guided solely by the best interest of the nation.' His most prominent rival, Tidjane Thiam, has already been barred from running by a court on the grounds that he was still a French citizen at the time he declared his candidacy, even though he later renounced his French nationality. Ivorian law bans dual nationals from running for president. Elections in Ivory Coast have usually been fraught with tension and violence. When Mr Ouattara announced his third term bid, several people were killed in the ensuing violence. There have been protests against the court's decision to bar Mr Thiam from contesting the election. Mr Ouattara is the latest among a growing number of leaders in West Africa who remain in power by changing the constitutional term limit. Coup leaders in the region have used alleged corruption within democratic governments and electoral changes as a pretext to seize power, leading to a split in the regional bloc, Ecowas. 'For those critical of Ecowas and civilian governments, Ouattara's decision just reinforces the legitimacy crisis everyone in the region is facing. It makes people like Ouattara look like hypocrites,' Nat Powell, Africa analyst at Oxford Analytica, told the Associated Press. Mr Ouattara's candidacy drew strong criticism from opposition members. 'Alassane Ouattara does not want to leave power — like any self-respecting dictator,' Guillaume Soro, a former prime minister who was blocked from running in the election, said. Affi N'guessan, a candidate of the opposition Ivorian Popular Front, called Mr Ouattara's candidacy 'illegal' but said he is confident that 'a united opposition will defeat him at the polls'.
Eyewitness News
a day ago
- Business
- Eyewitness News
I.Coast President Ouattara, 83, says will seek fourth term
ABIDJAN - Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara said Tuesday he will seek a fourth term in the west African country, as tensions rise over the exclusion of many heavyweight opposition candidates. Ouattara, 83, has led Ivory Coast since 2011. He had been earlier officially nominated by his ruling Rally of Houphouetists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP) party as its candidate, but had not yet said if he would contest the October 25 election. "I am a candidate because the constitution of our country allows me to run for another term and my health permits it," he said, adding that the world's top cocoa producer was "facing unprecedented security, economic, and monetary challenges, the management of which requires experience". Critics of Ouattara accuse him of tightening his grip on power and strongly oppose him running again. The opposition has accused the authorities of choosing their opponents by legal means, but the government insists the judiciary acts independently. The two main opposition parties have launched a joint campaign to demand the reinstatement of their barred leaders ahead of the presidential election. This alliance brings together the African People's Party of Ivory Coast (PPACI) - led by former president Laurent Gbagbo - and the Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI), the country's largest opposition force, headed by former international banker Tidjane Thiam. Gbagbo, his former right-hand man Charles Ble Goude and ex-prime minister Guillaume Soro have been struck from the electoral register due to criminal convictions. Thiam was also excluded by the judiciary over nationality issues. Ouattara worked at the International Monetary Fund and the west African regional bank BCEAO and entered politics when Ivory Coast's founding president, Felix Houphouet-Boigny, appointed him to chair a body on economic recovery in the midst of an economic crisis. As Houphouet-Boigny's health worsened, Ouattara assumed more and more responsibility for overseeing the country's affairs. POWER STRUGGLE When the ailing president died in December 1993, Ouattara was embroiled in a brief power struggle with Henri Konan Bedie, the speaker of parliament, and then left Ivory Coast to join the IMF. In 1995, he joined the new Rally of the Republicans (RDR) party and planned on running as their presidential candidate. But he was barred from doing so following new laws requiring both parents of a candidate to be of Ivorian birth for the candidate to have lived continuously in Ivory Coast prior to an election. He was barred from polls in 2000 on the same grounds. A failed coup two years later led to a low-level civil war, leaving the country divided into the rebel-held and predominantly Muslim north, where Ouattara drew much of his support, and the government-controlled Christian-majority south. Ouattara who was subjected to violence during the unrest, left the country but returned to contest an election in 2010. Then-president Gbagbo's refusal to concede electoral defeat to Ouattara led to another period of unrest, in which more than 3,000 people were killed, before Ouattara became president in 2011. Gbagbo was acquitted on charges of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court in The Hague but still has a conviction in Ivory Coast stemming from the violent post-election crisis that ended his rule. Critics have already questioned the legality of Ouattara's third term as the constitution limites presidential terms to two. The opposition boycotted the 2020 vote and Ouattara won by a landslide.
Leader Live
a day ago
- Politics
- Leader Live
Ivory Coast president announces bid for fourth term after changing constitution
His candidacy is contested after he changed the constitution to remove the presidential term limit. The 83-year-old president declared his plan in a televised announcement. He won a third term in 2020 after he initially said he was not going to run again. However, he changed his position following the death of his hand-picked successor, Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly. 'For several months, I have received numerous calls from fellow citizens regarding my potential candidacy in the presidential election,' the president said. Referring to the country by its name in French, he went on: 'Women and young people from all regions of Cote d'Ivoire, and countless anonymous voices from our neighbourhoods, towns and villages have reached out. 'In response to those appeals, I announced on June 22 that, as president of all Ivorians, I would, after careful reflection, make a decision guided solely by the best interest of the nation.' His most prominent rival, Tidjane Thiam, has already been barred from running by a court on the grounds that he was still a French citizen at the time he declared his candidacy, even though he later renounced his French nationality. Ivorian law bans dual nationals from running for president. Elections in Ivory Coast have usually been fraught with tension and violence. When Mr Ouattara announced his third term bid, several people were killed in the ensuing violence. There have been protests against the court's decision to bar Mr Thiam from contesting the election. Mr Ouattara is the latest among a growing number of leaders in West Africa who remain in power by changing the constitutional term limit. Coup leaders in the region have used alleged corruption within democratic governments and electoral changes as a pretext to seize power, leading to a split in the regional bloc, Ecowas. 'For those critical of Ecowas and civilian governments, Ouattara's decision just reinforces the legitimacy crisis everyone in the region is facing. It makes people like Ouattara look like hypocrites,' Nat Powell, Africa analyst at Oxford Analytica, told the Associated Press. Mr Ouattara's candidacy drew strong criticism from opposition members. 'Alassane Ouattara does not want to leave power — like any self-respecting dictator,' Guillaume Soro, a former prime minister who was blocked from running in the election, said. Affi N'guessan, a candidate of the opposition Ivorian Popular Front, called Mr Ouattara's candidacy 'illegal' but said he is confident that 'a united opposition will defeat him at the polls'.
DW
a day ago
- Business
- DW
Ivory Coast President Ouattara seeks fourth term – DW – 07/29/2025
A former banker, President Alassane Ouattara did well for the country's economy, but critics accuse him of tightening his grip on power and strongly oppose his reelection bid. He has led the Ivory Coast since 2011. Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara said on Tuesday that he will seek a fourth term in the country's October 25 presidential election, while tensions rise over the exclusion of several prominent opposition candidates. Ouattara had been nominated by his party, the Rally of Houphouetists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP), but he waited until Tuesday to confirm he would run. The opposition, however, has said a fourth term would be unconstitutional. "I am a candidate because the constitution of our country allows me to run for another term and my health permits it," Ouattara said. The 83-year-old Ouattara is a former international banker and has led Ivory Coast since 2011. Previously, he had said he would like to step down. Ouattara, an economist trained in the US, has long pitched himself as a savvy technocrat capable of delivering steady growth. The numbers support him, with the IMF projecting GDP growth of 6.3% this year, matching the average from the past decade. Ouattara has made deals that helped him win two earlier reelections and stopped the kind of widespread violence that happened after he beat Laurent Gbagbo in 2010. Gbagbo's refusal to accept defeat sparked a brief civil war that killed over 3,000 people and ended only when he was arrested in a bunker at his Abidjan residence. After having served his limit of two terms, Ouattara was only able to run for a third after a new constitution reset his time in office. The opposition boycotted the 2020 vote, and Ouattara won by a landslide. The vote, however, was marred when at least 85 people were killed in the ensuing unrest. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Political analyst Arthur Banga said Ouattara's "primary success has been on the macroeconomic side" and restoring the Ivory Coast's "international influence." "But there are still democratic challenges to overcome," he added, citing lingering fears of election-related violence. Critics accuse the president of tightening his grip on power and strongly oppose his reelection bid. The opposition has accused authorities of using legal means to target their rivals and exclude Ouattara's opponents from elections. Ouattara's most prominent rival, Tidjane Thiam, was legally kept from running when a court ruled he was a French citizen at the time he declared his candidacy despite later renouncing his French nationality. Ivorian law bans dual nationals from running for president. The government insists the judiciary operates independently. The two main opposition parties have launched a joint campaign demanding the reinstatement of their barred leaders ahead of the presidential election.
